I think it's a common scenario these days where a friendship goes haywire because someone gets the dreaded feelings. These feelings are those of more than just friendship. They are comparable to nuclear weapons or deadly snakes or really anything that has destructive power.

The story goes something like this: two people form a relationship (of ANY kind, I'm not one to judge); one or both come down with a serious case of the feels; one chooses to either tell the other, ignore his or her feelings, or jump ship (aka the relationship); the feeler and the other are then both left to deal with the consequences. There is really only one happy ending, one where the feelings are mutual and the pair is able to divulge these thoughts and then they both live happily ever after, like in almost all romantic comedies.

The reality, however, rarely fits into a romantic comedy. I know that mine didn't. I chose option A, I gathered up all of my courage and revealed a huge bomb, I liked him. What happened next did not match up with my dreamed up scenario.

He wanted to stay friends, just friends. So, I held my head up high, resolved my feelings, and our friendship lived on...I wish. What actually happened was I went over to another friend's house, put on his sweatshirt, and watched sad movies all while eating ice cream mixed in with anger and tears. Looking back I now have a new light of some things that should have been obvious. He wasn't wrong, or a jerk, or an idiot, or a tease, or any of the other horrible names me and my friends assigned to him. It's ok to not have romantic feelings for someone, even if that person feels that way towards you. I was wrong to direct my anger at him when it was the situation. I said some very unfair things when I should have been thanking him for being honest. Honesty can hurt, but that does not mean being less than honest is right. The more appropriate response would have been to honor our friendship and recognize that he is entitled to feel the way he does. I threw away months of friendship for one disconnect. And, I was the one who lost.